‘‘Retail sector’s growth is much faster than FMCG. Basically, retail is all about selling. So we naturally draw people from the basic industry, that is FMCG. The compensation and growth is also very attractive here compared to other sectors,’’ says Sanjay Jog, HR head, Pantaloons.

Apart from the retail sector’s voracious appetite for manpower, what’s driving its talent hunt is internal HR issues. At entry levels, attrition rates are high. With loyalty issues haunting middle-level employees, this results in higher salary bandwidths simply to retain talent. At the top end, firms are waiting anywhere from six months to a year to fill up vacancies.

Upcoming retail chains are, for obvious reasons, poaching from the established players like Shopper’s Stop, Kishore Biyani’s Big Bazaar and RPG Group’s Spencer’s for back end operations like supply chain, logistics management etc. But for front-end operations like HR and merchandise management, the target is FMCG.

According to HR consultants, the biggest setback for FMCG companies has been at the middle management level. ‘‘Middle managers in FMCG majors have become favourite poaching grounds for new companies setting up operations in sectors as diverse as insurance, telecom services, banks, retail and back office operations,’’ says K Pandyarajan, managing director Ma Foi Management Consultants.

Is FMCG sector losing its sheen? “Top performers in IIMs prefer investment banks and foreign consultancies to FMCGs. Even though the FMCG industry offers Rs 4.5-5 lakh per annum as entry salaries, this is much less than those offered by foreign banks, investment banks etc. Despite all this, freshers choose FMCG because of what they to get to learn,” says Marico’s HR head Pankaj Bhargava.

... contd.